Maine Striper Fishing Report, smaller tides and very well feed fish creating a good but shorter bite on the bay over the past weekend,we still found plenty of surface feeds at most spots we fished but with a clearing sky at the beginning of the week we went looking for a change up! My angler and I took the little skiff out for some sight fishing! It sure is fun guiding well traveled fly anglers who are up to challenging themselves and sight fishing sand flats for striped bass or tidal Carp in skinny water will do just that! On Monday and Tuesday we spent a day Carp fishing in the MerryMeeting bay area and Had a blast!!! I think we will both loose sleep over the eats we got in less than a foot of water!!! on Tuesday we headed out for some sight fishing on the flats south of Portland, The light was trying for us but never lit up the sand that great, but we still found plenty of fish and shots, there are some very large groups of small fish mixed in with that upper slot to mid 30 inch fish.
Bait wise, kinda the same as last week just more of it, sand eels in the Saco area and not only bringing bass but also some bigger Mackerel and I heard my first reports of Bluefish in Maine waters also a email report from Jim Berstein down at the Eldredge Fly Shop in Cape Neddic of a over 50 inch fish caught on a local charter, lets hope that big girl made it quickly back into the water. Every thing from 9 inch long hollow to 1.5 inch sand eel patterns have produced and so have the crab patterns. There is a mixed bag out there and you can choose the style of fishing you want by weather and tides there are plenty of fish both on the mud flats and fishy structure of Casco Bay and the sand flats to the south for the sight anglers.
Also I would like to apologize to anglers who have been trying to contact me or book tips, My response time has been slowed by the quality of fishing we are seeing here in Maine and I
hope I got back to you all and did not miss anyone..I have one or two AM opening in July a handful of evening / Striper or Carp tides open as well..Coming up when we have a little down time, I will be doing a bio on Coastal Fly Anglers new Guide, Capt. Mike Roy.I have seen him over the years poling the flats on his own getting to really know the water and when he approached me to buy a push pole a few ago I felt he had a understanding of how to approach
guiding light tackle anglers on Casco Bay so by adding Mike and working with a group of full-time guides throughout Maine's coast we offer one of the best connections for Guided Maine Striper Fishing 207-671-4330
Maine Striper Fishing ~ Providing up to date fishing reports and Guided Saltwater Fishing trips with Capt. Eric Wallace of Coastal Fly Angler. Fishing Maine's Casco Bay, Kennebec River,Southern Maine's Sand Flats,and Merrymetting Bays Tidal Carp. Give us a Call 207-671-4330 or check out our website coastalflyangler.com for more on Maine Saltwater fishing.
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Flats fishing report for Striped Bass: Capt Eric Wallace
From Maine to Cape Cod Bay there are both big flats and small shoreline pockets that offer good skinny water fishing, and big tides that average 8 to 10 feet. The coast from Chatham, Massachusetts to Long Island, New York offers the same type of water but smaller tides, only 2 to 4 feet or so. Only Long Island has tide ranges up to 7 feet.
The bigger the tides the faster fishing conditions will change. In locations with a 2-foot tide a flat might be fishable for the entire day; a flat with a 10-foot tide will be most stable around low tide, sometimes for several hours. Once the strong flow begins be prepared to move with the flow so as not to get trapped by the rising water when wading.
An early incoming tide will be the most productive in many locations. Stripers feel more at ease and as the flats cover there is food like dead sand eels, clams and crabs that are easy targets for stripers. This is especially true where tides are biggest. However, a falling tide in places that trap baitfish along edges and inside basins and drainage gullies can be excellent, too. Small creekmouths attract fish on a falling tide and they move upstream into the creek in search of food as the tide rises. Some small creeks are crystal clear and will remind the trout angler of Western spring creeks. Generally, big-tides mean a short fishing window.
Sand eels are the best baitfish for northern flats because they burrow and remain in the sand on dry flats through low tide. As water returns, some baitfish die and lay on the bottom. A flat where you see dead sand eels at low tide could be a hotspot, so stick around. Crabs are numerous on all flats and both crabs and shrimp are abundant inside creeks and estuaries. I do very well with a sparse, white Deceiver, and an epoxy sand eel fly made with purple Fluorofibre over cream Fluorofibre with some flash. Tie these flies 3 to 5 inches long. The lady crab, or calico, is a very important food source in the shallows; a reddish Del Brown Crab Fly is a good match for these. Any light tan bonefish fly 1 1/2 to 2 inches long will match both the common shore and sand shrimp that live on the flats inside most estuaries. And lightly weighted 3- to 4-inch Clouser Minnows in tan-and-white or olive-and-white are also very popular.
Top times for sight fishing are from mid May through early July. Then you can depend on good sunlight and the lower water temperature brings hungry fish onto the flats and into the creeks to feed. Some of the colder water locations from northern Massachusetts to Maine can have good sight fishing into August. In September and early October big flats might hold fish at times but the light is not as good as in summer. The key to good daytime fishing is cool water and abundant food sources.
In the spring there are places when you can sight cast and catch large numbers of smaller stripers, but the real fun begins when casting to big stripers. You will earn each fish, and you will remember each one long after the memory of a 20-fish day has faded.
Copyright Coastal Fly Angler Maine Saltwater Fly fishing Guides and Reports With Capt Eric Wallace.
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